Basketball (and Handball): The OTHER side of Relief Society...

I know, I know....a whole week with no posts and now what do you get?? One about me. Not the cute little twins that keep you coming back. Well, too bad! But don't worry, I've got some twin stuff coming up.

This, though, is about how much I LOOOOOVE Relief Society basketball. Especially in our Chantilly Ward back in VA...oh, how I miss playing with our team and the other ladies in the stake! The reason all this is fresh on my mind is because a bunch of women from our ward here in Uruguay, and some of their friends and members of other wards, have started playing team handball on Saturdays in the church parking lot and invited me to join them (yep, same parking lot Z and I play basketball on sometimes, it's very multi-purpose :) It is so much fun!! It's a little bit like basketball, and a little bit like soccer, and I love playing with them. Seriously, you can't imagine how giddy and excited I was to go play. I really enjoy competition, even more so when I get to run around and sweat and bang into people. And I am pretty good, for only playing twice. I'm also very humble, obviously.

My 2006 YW team. I love these girls! Note: This photo is not doctored...haha

But anyway, Chantilly Ward basketball...the greatest. We had an awesome bunch of ladies, and it was such a nice break from normal life. Some stakes don't have a very good bball program, but ours rocked. And we had some hardcore players. Pregnant women, women who'd just had babies, grandmas, single women who worked all day, all sorts of women. And if you think Relief Society sisters are all sweet smiles and spiritual testimonies, you need to get on a court with these sweaty, sometimes stinky ladies. It's fun, and refreshing, and sometimes pretty funny seeing the other side. Those games can get intense!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that as we were trying to get pregnant, and then when we found out we needed to do IVF, the first thing that would pop into my mind was, "How much basketball will I miss (with this timing)??" Luckily, it worked out that we did IVF right after the season ended (April), and then had the twins right before it started again. I played very mildly a little bit during the 2nd trimester, and was actually playing again 3 weeks after having them by c-section. I just couldn't stay away. It sounds crazy, I know, but my doc pretty much okayed it, and it was really good for me, physically and mentally. Hmmm...okay, that's meant to illustrate how fun our basketball program was, not brag about my post-c-section amazing-ness...It was not very amazing the first week or so. It was the opposite of, in fact. But c-sections aren't that bad...alright, this is getting slightly off topic.

So basically, I just miss my Chantilly Ward basketballers. We played year-round, not just during the stake season. Our very first Sunday in that ward, the Bishop's wife, Linda, passed around a bball sign-up sheet, and I was so excited. I instantly felt at home. Linda's so cute, my mom's age, and she just loves to play basketball, too. Lots of times she'd have nicely manicured nails, aka: her secret weapons. Good times. We'd end up playing with some Young Men often, during our practices, and it was a blast. I miss that. Once one of the boys kicked me in the eye while we were both going for a loose ball. I'm not quite sure how that happened...I got the ball, though, and a nice black eye. It was great...I love war wounds. Though after a few days it just looked like I went a little overboard with eyeshadow. Which I almost never wear. Lovely shade, though.

I also got to coach the YW for 3 years. I loved my girls, it was a great experience coaching and seeing them have fun and it was very rewarding to see them improve or use what we'd learned in practice in a game. I didn't coach them the last year we were there, as I'd just had the twins and time was um...kinda tight. I'd rather play than coach, and I barely could squeeze in those practices/games what with all the eating, etc. that Bran and Nuala did. Zachariah was terrific. All 4 of us would go to my games and he would manage the little twins himself. Usually people there would kinda help him, but still. And it was so fun the last couple of years when my sister Erin moved in and we got to play together! She and I were just talking the other day about how much we miss Chantilly basketball. She's in Poland now, and the poor thing hasn't been able to find a substitute yet. I hope she'll survive!

So, I just needed to reminisce. That was fun. And I'm grateful for my awesome basketball friends -- I really made some good friends through bball -- and for my nice new friends here, who let me play handball with them!

The Team, St. Patrick's Day, 2007. Angela, Sandy, Erin, Kristen, Patty, Me, and Marci. Linda, Stef, and Kathy couldn't make it...Angela was moving the next day, so we had a yummy afternoon at TGI Friday's.